Alleging an "industry-wide conspiracy," the governor announced on Tuesday that his Department of Financial Services had issued subpoenas to dozens of individuals and drug providers. These range from Oxycontin creator Purdue Pharma and members of its controlling Sackler family, to pharmacy benefit managers such as CVS Caremark and Navitus Health Solutions. The administration also issued requests for information to insurance giants such as Emblem Health and Aetna. Even New York City's Health+Hospitals' insurance arm Metro Plus falls under the probe's scrutiny.

Cuomo said his intention is to recover $2 billion he asserts New Yorkers overpaid in premium costs as a consequence of fraudulent activity in relation to opioids. State law authorizes DFS to regulate fraud in the insurance industry and to issue fines of up to $5,000 for every infraction, on top of recovering damages.

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"I've seen a number of schemes and frauds, but the opioid scheme is as diabolical, as brazen, as obnoxious and as offensive as anything I've seen," Cuomo said, referring to the misrepresentation of the addictive qualities of opioids.

Cuomo stressed that this action is distinct from the lawsuit the attorney general's office lodged against Purdue Pharma last year. It is also separate from the case Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration has brought against the Sackler family, which founded and owns Purdue, and against chain pharmacies that supplied Oxycontin, including CVS and Wal-Mart.

It comes as a number of states have successfully sought damages or settlements from Purdue and Johnson & Johnson.

Ironically, Crain's found Cuomo's campaign has received $51,000 from Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma heir Jonathan Sackler, who resigned from the firm's board earlier this year and who is among those subpoenaed. The donations date as far back as 2011 and as recent as 2017. And an RFI went out to insurer Crystal Run Healthcare, which is the subject of a federal probe into the funneling of hundreds of thousands of dollars to Cuomo's political efforts.

Clarification, Sept. 10, 2019: An earlier version of this story indicated that all parties named in the action received subpoenas. Cuomo's office has since stated that insurance companies received only requests for information.

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